Chapter Eight
Inuyasha froze on the spot, as he witnessed Kagome flew from the impact. His eyes were blinded, as he suddenly had a flashback, a vision. He saw Kagome leaped in front of him to shield him from an arrow (ref: Movie 2: Castle beyond the looking glass) and then, him leaping in front of to shield her from another blow. (ref: prologue)
What was going on?
There was a dim light at the end of the road. Kagome peered into the distance, and saw a faint shadow approaching her. It was all pitch dark, with a lone light ahead. Cautiously, she walked towards the shadow and stopped in her tracks. She made out the shadow and gasped, the long billowing hair and dog ears. Could it be...?
She ran towards him and saw him smiling at her in the distance.Her heart leaped as she ran into his welcoming arms. "Kagome...", Inuyasha whispered into her ears. Kagome sobbed and said, "I missed you so much, Inuyasha... "
Then, an invisable force grabbed Inuyasha forcefully away from Kagome. He was literally wrenched away from her, as Kagome cried out, "Noooo..."
Kagome woke up with a start. Her eyes scanned the ceiling of the room. It was unsually white. She looked down, and saw Inuyasha lying at the foot of her bed. She tried to sit up, and Inuyasha woke up from her movements, and immediately woke up. He straightened himself, "I.. I wasn't sleeping." He checked the time and continued," I just came... about 5 minutes ago."
Kagome gave a weak smile, "Oh right. Erm, where's Sango and Miroku?"
"They were here last night." He noticed the look on Kagome's face, "They called me about it, I came this morning. Wait, I mean five minutes ago." He scratched his head and spotted his half eaten bowl of instant ramen at the chair. "Sheesh. I'm sure Miroku left this behind, such a loser."
Kagome knew Inuyasha was here the whole night. Besides, who would be craving for instant ramen every single minute?
"Wha.. what happened yesterday?"
Inuyasha inhaled deeply. Suddenly, he remembered about the two visions he had yesterday.
"You.. got hit by a car."
"Oh. Are.. you alright, Inuyasha?"
"Yes, yes. I mean, yeah. How about you."
Kagome fidgeted a little in bed, "Well, head's a little heavy, that's all."
Inuyasha opened the dustpin and threw the ramen in. He looked at it longingly. Darnn, I should have just finished the blasted thing last night! He turned away and assured Kagome, "The doctor says you're fine, and that you just got some abrasions and some minor cuts." He looked away, and remembered seeing the bruise on Kagome's arm. His heart felt heavy, as he felt really guilty of pushing Kagome the day before.
"Actually, I went to your house yesterday to... " He stopped, as he found it very difficult for him to apologise. It was not an easy thing for him to do throughout his life.
"Hmm?" Kagome urged him on, as she managed to raise herself up on the bed.
Suddenly, the door opened. Sango and Miroku entered the ward. Inuyasha's jaw dropped open. Miroku walked in and with a basket of fruits and placed it on the table.
"How're you feeling now, Kagome?" He arranged the other baskets on the table," Sorry we could not make it yesterday, we were busy with some exchange activity and couldn''t rush down..."
Inuyasha glared at Miroku as Kagome raised her eyebrows at Inuyasha. Sango nodded and sat at the foot of Kagome's bed. "I'm so sorry for whatever that happened." Inuyasha looked down, why must she mentioned this again? I don't want to apologise.. not yet.
"Inuyasha, wanted to go to your house to apologise too." Kagome's eyes widened and Sango continued, "But from what I see, Inuyasha still has not apologise to our dear friend Kagome, YET.."
Inuyasha threw a dirty look at Sango, "Wha.. what? Hey, you guys interrupted me when I was about to apol.."
"Whatever, Inuyasha." Miroku cut in. He gave a cheeky grin to Sango and said, "My fair lady, how bout going for a movie later?" Sango shot a dirty look at him and retorted, "How about Kagome-chan?"
"Its okay.. I'll look after her..." Inuyasha mumbled.
Kagome gave Inuyasha a grateful grin, but she knew that he was looking after her only because he was feeling guilty as he was the one who caused what happened. Kagome sighed and returned to sleep as Inuyasha watched on.
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Inuyasha woke up in the middle of the night, finding himself on the couch in the ward with a black sweater covering him. He peered over and looked at Kagome, still sleeping peacefully. He went over, and saw something beneath Kagome's pillow. Stupid brother of hers.. he must have brought something and stuffed it under her pillow earlier on. He walked silently over to the bed and attempted to get the thing from under the pillow. He managed to squeeze it out, and Kagome stirred a little, but she continued sleeping.
He stared at it. It was a black bounded book and it seemed quite thick. Curious, Inuyasha went back to the couch, and opened it for a little look. Wow, its her diary.. Inuyasha thought. He glanced through the pages, looking at the small photos she pasted inside. Then, he started to frown a little. He read the diary entries of Kagome's experiences during the feudal era and he started to notice that most of the entries contained his name in it. Kagome's innermost feelings were written all in that book. Besides, Kagome also pasted small photos of Hanyou Inuyasha and her together in some of her entries. Inuyasha started to flip the pages to the later entries, and noticed that she wrote about her first encounter with the current him, and till the recent incident. She must have written them while I was asleep... Inuyasha thought.
" When I first laid eyes on the new exchange students in class. I've got a huge shock of my life. He resembled Inuyasha so much. But, he treated me so differently.. Still, he has most of Inuyasha's characteristics. I missed Inuyasha's dog ears, and everything. I'm trying so hard to forget about everything, and get on with life. But this sudden appereance of this person who looked so much like him reminded me of Inuyasha' death every single day. Wierd thing is, this new guy responded to Osuwari, even without the rosary. Could he be?"
Inuyasha scanned down to the next entry.
"Sango told me that perhaps, this Inuyasha couldn't be him. He could not even remember anything, unlike Sango-chan and Miroku-sama. But, his so much like him. Even getting so worked up and jealous when any other guys approach me. If he is not Inuyasha... why does he behave in such a way?" Kagome scribbled some illegible words and Inuyasha ignored it and continued.
"I can't believe it. Inuyasha hugged Sango. I mean, okay, if he isn't really Inuyasha, I shouldn't be so angry. But why? I can't accept the fact that Inuyasha could actually like Sango. Sango's nice and everything, but my heart is aching so badly. Is it because I keep thinking that Inuyasha is the old Hanyou Inuyasha I once loved? Well, I think I should just let it be. Inuyasha is just a NEW person.. NOT him. Not him."
Inuyasha realised how Kagome was trying so hard to treat him differently. His fingers trembled as turned the page to read the next entry.
"He pushed me down earlier on in school. Mom asked me about the bruise on my hand, but I lied about me falling off the bike. Perhaps, I was too hard and difficult. He may think I'm weird now." More scribblings were seen on the page. He looked up to check on Kagome before reading the final entry.
"Inuyasha accompanied me throughout the night. Right now, he's sleeping, and I appreciate Souta's help for bringing this along. Had a hard time convincing its a math notebook so he doesn't read. Well, I think he's just guilty about this. But, still, I would not blame him. Part of me, still love and treat him like, Inuyasha. Well, but i guess he'll never be the same as him..."
Inuyasha closed the diary slowly and placed it carefully under Kagome's pillow, ensuring that it was in the exact same position as how he found it earlier on. He realised that it was Kagome who covered him with the sweater. Suddenly, he felt that everything seemed to fall into place. The two wierd flashbacks he had, and the entries should have proved it all. Besides, his heart seemed to sympathise with her feelings, and made him feel kind of funny..
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Kagome woke up, feeling refreshed and well. She suddenly peered under her bed and noticed her diary underneath and heaved a sigh of relief. Then, she got off her bed and scanned the ward. Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen.
The door opened, and Kagome's mother came in, along with her grandfather. She was able to return home, but needed constant medication. Kagome walked down the hospital hallway, and saw Inuyasha outside, asleep, with a bowl of half-eaten ranmen on his lap. He seemed exhausted. Kagome cautiously approached him, when suddenly a nurse holding a medicine tray from behind told Kagome, "This poor guy was here a few hours ago. I heard he didn't sleep throughout the night." She chuckles, "He was too busy looking after a patient. He's a friend of yours?"
Kagome nodded and Sota followed her to Inuyasha. Sota poked Inuyasha in his ribs, and he woke up looking startled and spilled the bowl of ramen all over the gleaming white hospital floor.
"ARGH. What do you think you're doing!" Inuyasha glared at Sota. He heard a soft chuckle and turned behind. Kagome was laughing at the mess he made, and Inuyasha's face soften a bit. "Kagome.. you're able to return home now?"
Kagome nodded and said, "Thanks for looking after me these past few days. I.. appreciate it."
Inuyasha looked down, his cheeks was burning hot. "It was.. nothing."
Kagome's mother turned into the corner and spotted Kagome and Inuyasha.
"Kagome.. we can go now... HUH?" She stared at Inuyasha with her mouth open. "Since when you're here...?" Inuyasha looked at her with his eyebrows raised.
Sota jumped up and down beside his mother, "Mother, I told you about Inuyasha yesterday... Don't you remem.."
Her mother went closer to Inuyasha, and started scanning him from top to toe, "How.. how did you return from the dead. Wow, with... a new hair colour and everything... and when did you come.."
"I didn't return from the dead. I was here ALL ALONG."
Kagome (SWEATDROP), "hehe. Erm, Mom, this is Inuyasha, from my class." Inuyasha nodded defensively. "He's an exchange student." She paused and slowly added, her expression changed," and... he isn't Inuyasha, hanyou."
Inuyasha glanced at Kagome, his heart heavy. Her last sentence reminded him of the entries he read last night from her diary, but no way was he going to let her know that. Something in his mind told him that there would be a very horrible ordeal he would face if he told Kagome that.
"Well. But I have to say, you look REALLY REALLY REALLY like Inuyasha, cept for the hair, and.. dog ears." Her mother giggled softly, oblivious to the tense atmosphere. "Do you want to follow us home, dear? I'llbe cooking ramen for dinner tonight.", Kagome's mother suggested hopefully.
Inuyasha gleamed at the sound of ramen. He nodded his head and smiled.
"You're really like him, dear." Kagome's mother remarked as they walked back home together. Kagome breathed in the cool evening air as she felt more peaceful then ever. She glanced at Inuyasha and deep down in her heart, she was thankful that Inuyasha had acutally spent the nights looking after her. Perhaps, things are perking up after all...
A/N: This is my longest chapter ever. (: Haha. Well, anyway, 86 reviews! Thanks everyone! In the meantime, I'll answer to some reviews. (:
Kitsune Ryune: I felt that Tsubasa did not fit the plot as I wrote further. Thus, I left it out in the story. Now, its only Collide. (:
lisiegirl: Yes, the pairing is Inu/Kag. My fav. couple. Haha. (:
NeuroticallyDignified : Pairing Inu/Kag. :D
Letselina: Didn't mean to kill you guys with the suspense. AND right you are, its a Inu/Kag fanfic!
and to the rest, thanks for all the reviews! I appreciate them.
About this chaper, Inuyasha finally learnt about the past relationship of Kagome and Inuyasha, and he seemed to be able to handle it quite well and is surprisingly more sensitive towards Kagome's feelings. He got 2 flashbacks! ("Finally!" as some of you must be thinking)
I will try my best to steer away from depressing chapters, cos I always have the tendency to write sad sad stories. -cackles- Just kidding, anyway stay tuned for the next chapter.
LOVE, emily.